Family Matters
by CBloom2
Summary: A tough day for our boys! Will they be there for each other? You know it's going to be about Ethan and Cal don't you?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer :I don't own anyone that you recognise.

Family Matters

Dr Ethan Hardy pulled open the curtains, letting the bright, spring sun stream through the window, immediately wrapping his weary body in a soothing blanket of warmth. He sighed deeply, perturbed by the fact that he couldn't enjoy that feeling this morning, the morning he had been dreading for a long time.

He washed and dressed as normal, then made his way to the kitchen becoming aware that his older brother had not yet made it out of bed. Nothing new there! Since Cal had started living with him, he could count on the fingers of one hand how many times he had been up before him. Ethan glanced at the clock. Cal had five more minutes to get up before he would be late for his shift - for their shift, but Ethan wouldn't wait for him.

"Mmm...morning..." the sleepy voice of his brother broke the silence. Ethan was surprised to see that the older man was not only up, but dressed, washed and shaved. Cal glanced at his watch, "Damn, no time for breakfast...again," he grumbled, as he slipped his jumper on.

Ethan smiled ruefully, "Coffee's in your travel mug and there's some toast wrapped up on the side."

Cal's face broke into a smile, "And that dear brother is why I love you!"

Ethan shook his head and followed his brother out of the flat.

By two in the afternoon, Ethan had finally managed to grab ten minutes for a sandwich and a quick drink of water. He perched precariously on a stool, as he quickly munched on his sandwich, mulling over what he had left to do that day.

"Ethan!"

"Hmmm?" he looked round to see Lofty looking at him, eyes narrow, "Everything ok?"

"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

"Well I've been talking to you for the last couple of minutes...you've been starting straight at me, but obviously you're not here," the young nurse explained.

Ethan dropped his eyes, "I'm sorry Lofty. Just thinking..."

"So I noticed. Anything I can help with?"

The young doctor smiled slightly, "Do you know that I've been here a year already?"

"Wow, that's gone quickly," Lofty commented as he made a cup of tea.

"Yes..." Ethan seemed to disappear into himself once more.

Suddenly it dawned on Lofty, "Oh Ethan I remember..."

The young man sighed as he took a gulp of water, "Hmm I wish my brother did - I shouldn't have to remind him should I?"

"How do you know that he hasn't?" Lofty questioned.

"I can just tell. He's just going on about his business as usual."

Lofty could see that the younger doctor was simmering with disappointment, but before he could say anything, Ethan jumped off the stool, rinsed his glass, "I've got to go, I'm leaving earlier so I need to work my time."

Lofty waved as the doctor dashed out of the staff room.

As soon as he had gone, Lofty took off in search of another doctor.

"Hey Cal, you got a minute?" Lofty had found who he was looking for.

The taller man turned round from what he was doing, "Yeah, I've got a few - what's up?"

"Have you spoken to Ethan today?"

"Not really, not seen him much to be honest...why?" He looked directly at the young man, his stomach beginning to tighten with anxiety. Ethan had looked ok that morning...

"You do know what day it is today?" Lofty questioned, "And don't tell me it's Tuesday!"

Cal couldn't help smirking. He blew out a deep breath, "Yes, of course I do," he answered, his smile dropping from his face.

"Have you spoken to Ethan about it?"

"Like I said. I haven't really seen that much of him."

"He thinks you've forgotten Cal. He's really feeling it and he's sure that you haven't remembered."

"Oh god," Cal sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "Why doesn't he say anything? He really frustrates me sometimes...I'm not a mind reader..."

"I think you need to talk to him. He's leaving early today though," Lofty explained patiently.

"Why? Oh wait, I know why - I'll talk to him after my shift," Cal assured.

Lofty nodded, "Are _you_ ok?" he asked.

"As alright as I can be on a day like this," Cal answered, "Thanks for telling me, I'll sort it." With that, Cal was once again swallowed up in the busy department.

"Ethan it's five o'clock," Robyn told the young doctor. He had asked her to remind him of the time as that was the time that he needed to leave and he didn't want to be late.

"Thank you Robyn - I'm off," he told her as he started to make his way to the staff room. The young nurse stopped him with a hand on his arm, "Just wanted you to know that I'm thinking about you."

Ethan looked at her and felt his eyes begin to fill up. No, he wasn't going to do that here, "Thank you Robyn. I didn't realise..."

"I know, but I did. Just go and see her then have a drink for her."

Ethan smiled slightly as he nodded in agreement.

A few minutes later saw Ethan changed and ready to leave - just one more stop... the florist.

**Decided to make this a two chapter story. It's going to be a bit of an angsty piece (surprised?), but hopefully it also shows a closeness of the brothers.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who read and reviewed this. Here's chapter 2. Have you guessed where Ethan is going?**

**Well, if you have or haven't, then you'll find out now. You may or may not need tissues as it could be quite a sensitive subject.**

**Family Matters - Chapter 2**

Twenty minutes after leaving the ED, Ethan parked the car and just sat for a moment. He stared out of the windscreen, thankful that the sun had continued to shine, causing the temperature to rise comfortably. The young doctor couldn't shake the disappointment he felt about his brother not being sat in the car next to him. Since the crash Cal had been there for him whenever he had needed him, but he really needed his big brother today, and he wasn't there. He sighed deeply as he grabbed the bouquet of white and pink roses that he had bought on his way out of hospital.

He walked slowly towards his destination, glancing left and right, a sensation of peace washing over him.

Suddenly he appeared to be where he wanted to be. How had he got there so quickly? He hadn't noticed.

"Hey mum...it's me," the young man crouched in front of his mother's gravestone, "I've bought you your favourite flowers," he said aloud as he started the place the flowers into the vases in front of the stone.

"I can't believe that it's already been a year since you left us...Time flies by so quickly," he smiled, "It's been a busy year. You know I got that new job at Holby ED...I love it mum. It's extremely busy and our boss can be a bit of a witch, but I work with some amazing people. I'm sorry, I'm repeating myself aren't I? I bet you're fed up with listening to me prattle on..."

"She never got tired of listening to you talk..." a voice from behind him caused him to jump to his feet.

"Cal...?" To say he was surprised to see his brother stood there, his arms full of flowers too, was a bit of an understatement, "I..."

"You thought I'd forgotten...I know," Cal looked sad for a moment. If he had been honest, he had been a little hurt that his brother would have thought that of him, but he also remembered that Ethan had carried all the responsibility for his mum during and after her illness, so he would never have said anything.

"Truth is," Cal began, "I was waiting for you to say something...but you didn't."

Ethan couldn't help but chuckle, "I was waiting for _you_ to say something...and when you didn't...well..."

Cal smiled, "I know. I had a bit of a shove from a certain curly haired nurse. I'm sorry Ethan..."

"Do you know what? Let's not do that ok? You're here, now, and that's what's important. She would have been so proud of you, you know? You've kind of turned your life around, apart from one or two relapses, but you're making something of yourself - you're a great doctor Cal, just like she always knew you would be."

Cal felt his eyes well up listening to his brother say that, "Ethan, I..."

Ethan put up his hand to stop him, "Just take it. I may never say those words again!"

The brothers both smiled and fell into a comfortable silence as they tended to their mother's grave, "You know, I still can't believe it's been a year," Cal commented sadly, "So much has happened."

"I know," Ethan replied quietly, not wanting to be drawn into a conversation about the past year, "Hang on. I had the car, how did you get here?"

"I got a taxi. I knew this is where you would be so I knew I'd be able to get a lift home." Cal then glanced at his watch realising that they had been there nearly a hour and the light was fading, "Speaking of which, let's go home. I've got a surprise for you," he told his younger brother as they both stood. As one, they took a step back and admired their handiwork, "It looks beautiful," Ethan breathed, looking at the gravestone as it stood tall in a sea of white and pink roses, "She would've loved it," he finished as a tear dropped down his face. He tried to wipe it away without his brother seeing. Cal had noticed but decided not to say anything - today was a day for whatever emotion seemed appropriate. He slung an arm around his brother and led him back to the car.

On the way home they picked up some pizza and a bottle of nice wine to toast their mother. As Ethan was busy finding plates and wine glasses, Cal set about sorting out his surprise.

Ethan placed the glasses on the table, but no plates, "Where are the plates?" Cal asked.

"Pizza is better out of a box - isn't that what you always tell me?"

Cal laughed, "Yes! Finally! You're finally coming round to my way of thinking!"

"Don't get used to it," Ethan warned.

As Ethan poured the wine, he realised that Cal was putting on a DVD, "Oh no," he groaned, "Not Die Hard again."

Cal settled himself as he shook his head.

The DVD began to play and Ethan nearly dropped his glass of wine.

His mother's face was staring at them from the TV screen, "What...how..." he stuttered.

"I found some old films when we were clearing out her things. I realised that they were films of us as boys, holidays etc, so I had them put onto DVD so that we could see her whenever we wanted to," Cal told him, pleased that Ethan hadn't got angry with him for not telling him about the films.

They sat in silence for the next half hour, watching their childhood play out in front of them. There were films of Cal trying to teach Ethan how to play football - Ethan trying his hand at cricket - sandcastle building (with a few tears from a young Ethan when his castle collapsed - tears that turned to smiles when Cal went to help him rebuild it) and all the time, the films were peppered with their mum, smiling, laughing, running, dancing, the way they remembered her before she was ill.

Cal could feel rivers of tears falling down his cheeks, yet he couldn't help smiling too at the memories. He glanced to his brother, who had his face in his hands and was sobbing deeply. He sighed. He hadn't want to upset his little brother even more. 'Another great idea Cal' he chastised himself. He shuffled over on the sofa and put a comforting arm around the sobbing young man, "I'm sorry Ethan, I didn't mean to make you so upset," he told him honestly.

Ethan lifted his face out of his hands - his eyes were red from crying. He leaned into his brother's embrace just slighly, to feel his comfort. This is what he had been craving all day - his big brother to look after him, "This is perfect," he told him between sobs, "I couldn't really remember mum's smile...her real smile. She would try her hardest to smile when she was ill, but it was always forced - she was trying to make me feel better. So to see her real smile is a great gift - thank you Cal, this has made my day."

More tears cascaded down the older man's face, "You know I'm sorry Ethan, don't you? For not being there when you needed me."

Ethan nodded, "You're here now and...I really need this," he leaned even more into his brother's embrace. Cal swallowed a huge lump in his throat on hearing this and wrapped both arms around his little brother, relishing the closeness and vowing never to do anything to hurt him again.

**But will he be able to live up to that vow? Hmmm**

**Hope it was ok. See you soon.**


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